After Rent
by rentswwriter
Summary: A story about what happens after Rent to the bohemians. Mark/OC, Mimi/Roger, Collins, Maureen/Joanne, Benny. Hope you like it. This is my first time do a fanfic on this site. I don't own Rent
1. A New Beginning

Mark headed to the Life Café. It was now Feburary. Roger had been back in the loft for 2 months. Mark was glad to have him back, he missed his friend and had been worried about Mimi when Roger left for Santa Fe.

Roger and Mimi spen most of their time at Mimi's place. Collins, now spent his free time in the loft, and Mark was glad to have his friends all back. Even though he had this happiness, he still felt as though something was missing in his life. He just couldn't figure it out though.

His film, Today 4 U: Proof Positive, had received some awards and had been shown in a few local theaters. As he walked into the Life Café he could see it was bustling. It must have been around lunch time he thought to himself as he began to look for a table. He finally spotted a table in the back with one person sitting at it.


	2. A Bohemian Writer

**I don't own Rent or its characters. That would be the awesome Jonathan Larson. Hope you enjoy my crazy story. Let me know what you think whether its good or bad. Can't get better if I don't have feedback :)**

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Mark headed through the crowds to the table. The person sitting at the table was a young female in her early 20s. She had long brown hair that was down and framing her face. She wore a neon red orange ski hat, even though it was quite warm in the café. Her jacket was neon green and hanging on the other chair. She was sitting Indian style in the chair with a notebook in her lap. She was writing vigorously and half the table was covered with notebooks with the same scrawled writing. She was so busy that she didn't see Mark til he cleared his throat. This caused her to jump slightly and look up.

"Oh, I'm s….s… sorry" She sputtered out

"It's fine. Mind if I sit here?" He asked

"Go ahead." She paused before looking up again. "Aren't you that guy who did the documentary, "Today 4 U: Proof Positive?"

Mark smiled shyly. "Yea that would be me."

"Oh man!! That was great No Day But Today is my mantra now cause of your documentary. I can't believe you want to sit with me!!!"

"Why Not??"

"Dude!! You are awesome! I don't think I could do anything that artistic."  
"Sure you can you just got to believe in yourself. So do you film?"  
"I dabble but I mostly do photography and write. I love to write but I'm not that good."  
"Are you sure?? What are you writing about right now?"  
"Oh its just some story."  
"Really? Can I read some."  
"WHAT!! You want to read my stuff??"

"Yea it could be better than you think."  
"Um… ok." She then handed the notebook to him.

"It starts a few pages back."  
"Here??" He asked showing her where he had turned to.

"Yea."


	3. A Bright Personality

**I don't Own Rent. Please leave Reviews.**

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The girl anxiously ate her grilled cheese while he read what she had written so far. When he was done he handed the notebook back to her.

"So what did you think?"  
"I don't know why you say you're not good this is really great."  
She tilted her head to the side and her blue eyes lit up.  
"REALLY"  
"yea one question though."  
"Yea?"

"The girl, is she you?"

The girl blushed and nodded.

"Yea that story is a true one. It's about me and my friends. How did you guess?"

"Her personality carries across the pages. Just like yours does… naturally."

She gave him a look. "How do you figure that?"  
"Your clothes none of it matches and all of it is very bright."  
"OH!" She blushed

"It's not a bad thing. In fact it shows that you are brave enough to be different." He said with a smile.

The girl smiled back shyly.

"I'm Mark by the way." He reached his hand across the table and she shook it.

"Cassandra, but you can call me Cass."


	4. OW!

**Rent doesn't belong to me. Please review this is my first fanfic on this site.

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"Cool, so you like Star Wars?"  
"Yep my place is full of Star Wars stuff… books, toys, movies, etc."  
"Really?"  
"Yea, just something about Star Wars that I just love, but I may have to find a place to store them soon."

"Why?"  
"Can't pay for my rent and the stupid landlord, Benny, won't let me slide til I get enough."  
Mark starts busting out laughing. Cassandra quickly takes offense to this not realizing what's so funny.

"That's not funny" She scoffs.

"It is when you understand why."

She gives him a questioning look.

"Benny use to live with me and my friends."  
"Wait how is that? He is a yuppie scum, and I know there are no way your friends and you are. Right?"

"Benny use to be one of us, until he married. Then he became a yuppie scum."  
"Oh, ok." Cassandra then looked at the clock on the wall. Ah I got to go sorry."

She quickly grabbed her jacket then swept the rest of her notebooks into a hot pink bag.

"So I'll see you around?" She asked as she held the other notebook in her hands and tucked the pen into her pocket.  
"Yea sure. Good luck with Benny" Mark said with a quick smile.  
She started to walk out the door but right when she stepped out the door she slipped on the icy sidewalk. She went down, and her bag fell with the notebooks slipping out. Mark, who had been intrigued by the girl, had been watching her as she left, quickly got up and pushed the notebooks back into the bag and put it on his shoulder before turning to Cassandra to give her a hand up. He started to pull up on her to help her back up. But once fully standing she exclaimed "OW"  
"What is it?" Mark quickly asked.  
"I think it's my ankle. It hurts badly." Tears started to flow down her face. Mark quickly and gently lowered her back to the ground.  
He crouched down next to her. "Mind if I look at it real quick."  
She shook her head no. So he gently rolled up her blue jeans to look at the ankle. He could tell it was either broken or sprung as it had already begun to swell and bruise. "Well it doesn't look good. Do you have someone who stays with you?" She shook her head no and whipped her tears away with her jacket sleeve. "Well why don't you stay with me and my friends til your ankle is better?"  
"I don't know. I don't want to be in the way of anything."  
"Believe me, you won't be a problem, and I don't want you staying at your place if no one is there."  
"Ok, but I need some stuff from my apartment. Ok where do you live?"  
Cassandra tells him, and come to find out she lives in the building next door on the top floor.  
"Ok well that won't be a problem. I'll get you to my place then go to yours to get what you need, alright?"  
Cassandra shakes her head yes. "Do you think you can walk if you have someone to lean on?" She shakes her head no. "Alright, let me figure this out real quick." How was he going to get Cassandra to the loft with her stuff and up the stairs and with her? He silently wished someone he knew would come by soon to help.  
"HEY MARK" Mark looked up towards the sound of the voice. He smiled when he saw who it was, Collins. "Collins, perfect timing my friend."  
"Why what's going on? Who is this?" He said as he motioned to Cassandra on the ground.

"This is Cassandra. I just met her in the Life, and when she left she fell and sprung or broke her ankle. I've offered her to stay at our place until she gets better, and to get some stuff from her apartment for her which is in the building next to ours on the top floor, but I was just trying to figure how I was going to get her and the stuff she has with her to the loft."  
"Well I can take her stuff and unlock the loft door while you carry her up the stairs."  
"That could work." Collins then picked up the backpack and placed it on one shoulder. Mark then kneeled next to Cassandra. "Alright, Cass, are you ready?" She shook her head yes, and so with that Mark gently placed one arm underneath her knees. Cassandra hung tightly to his neck, and leaned into his bodily heavily. Collins had the key so he went up first so as to unlock the door. When Mark came in the door with Cassandra, Roger was sitting on the window sill staring out the window. He looked up when he heard the commotion. "Hey Mark, finally find you a girl" He said jokingly. "HAHAHA No, this is Cassandra, I met her at the Life, and when she was leaving she slipped and fell. I think her ankle is broken or sprung so she is going to stay until her ankle is better."  
"Oh ok." By this time Mark had set Cassandra on the couch with a couple of blankets, and had propped the foot on the couch with some pillows. He was then reaching into the freezer to make her an ice pack.  
Mark then gently took off her boot and rolled her pant leg up so to place the pack on it. He then grabbed a blanket and placed it on her as it was rather chilly in the loft.


	5. Cass's Apartment

**Rent doesn't belong to me. But it is still awesome. This is my 1st fanfic on this site. Please Review.**

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Cass wrote a list of things she needed from her apartment and where to find it and handed the list to Mark. She told him the number and which building her apartment was at. He then took the key out of a small pocket on the hot pink bag, and headed out to bring back what Cass needed. Finally he found her apartment. When Mark opened the door, he knew he had found the right place. On the walls were 6 huge Star Wars posters, one for each movie. There were Star Wars books all over the floor from one end of the room to the other. It took Mark a little bit to find the items on Cass's list, but he didn't mind. As he was searching he was taking in the apartment that was Cass. It was fun to look at the different photos she had laying around, and hanging on the walls. It was amazing to Mark how Cass's personality was projected on everything. He noticed there was a woman in many of the photos who looked like Cass a lot. He figured that she was Cass's mother. Finally Mark found everything and locked up Cass's place and went back to the loft. When he got in Cass was sound asleep on the couch, he noticed that there was another blanket on her, and that Roger had moved to one of the stools in the kitchen.  
"Thanks"  
"No problem, she had fallen asleep and was shivering so I figured she was cold. What's that stuff?" Roger said motioning to the basket Mark had filled with Cass's stuff.

"Just some stuff Cass wanted me to get because she is going to stay here til her ankle gets better. It is pretty bad and she doesn't live with anyone else so I thought she could stay her and we could help her out."  
"Oh ok" With that Roger grabbed his guitar of the table and walked to his room. Mark heard a few notes floating through the air a few minutes later. Mark slid the basket under the coffee table so Cass would see it when she woke up. He then grabbed a cigarette from the pack on the counter and went out on the balcony to smoke.


	6. Benny the Ass

**I don't own Rent. Please Review Thanks

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Mark sat on the balcony for a little while watching people walk past. Finally he went inside. He checked on Cass, but she was still asleep, so he lifted the ice pack off her ankle. It looked like the swelling may have gone down a bit, but it was still bruised quite a bit. So he decided to wrap it with an ace bandage when she woke up. Mark decided to dig in the cupboards for something to eat and found a thing of ramen noodles. He had begun to heat up some water on the hot plate when he heard a knock on the door. He figured it was Mimi as he hadn't seen her around most of the day. So he went to answer the door and let her in.

"Hey Mimi" He said as she entered the loft, wearing a short black skirt, fishnet stockings, and a skinny tank top, over that she had on her famous jacket.  
"Hey Mark, where's Roger, and who's that?" She said motioning to Cass on the couch.

"Roger is in his room, and that's Cass. I met her today at the Life Café, when she left she had slipped and fell, so her ankle is either broken or sprung and she is staying here til she is better."  
"Ah ok. She looks pretty innocent. What do you know about her?"  
Mark is about to answer but is interrupted by the whistling of the water in the kettle. Mimi follows Mark into the kitchen to continue her questions, forgetting about Roger for a little bit.

"Well for one thing Mimi, I know she is an intriguing person. When I met her in the Life she had notebooks on the table, and a neon red orange ski hat, but there is just something about her that makes me want to know more. Plus, she told me that Benny has been after her for her Rent, and I know how that is so I figured out that I want to help her."  
"Aw, you are so sweet Mark." Mimi said as she looked over at the sleeping girl on the couch.  
"Why is he so sweet now?" Roger said coming into the room. "Hey babe" He said as he pulled Mimi close to him and kissed her.

"Cause he's taking care of that girl that is on the couch." She said returning the kiss back.  
Mark just blushed at the whole thing and turned away from the two of them.

"That's probably because he wants to date her or something."  
"I DO NOT!" He said a little loudly. "Not yet anyway, I barely know her."  
"So why do you want to help her so bad?" Roger said with a questioning look.

Mark sighed. He didn't know if he really wanted to Roger or not. He knew why of course but he wasn't sure if he could say it loud. "Benny is her landlord," was all he said before walking out to the balcony with his bowl of ramen noodles in one hand and a cigarette in the other. Mimi and Roger exchanged looks before Roger followed Mark outside.

When he stepped out on to the balcony, Mark was sitting in an old lawn chair. The bowl of noodles was on the railing as though Mark had forgotten about it, and he was puffing on the cigarette angrily.

"Wait, Benny is her landlord." Roger said after a few minutes.  
"Yea and he is being the asshole that he is, and won't give her a break on the rent. So for now I'm glad she is injured so she doesn't have to deal with Benny's antics." Mark sighed and puffed on the cigarette some more. "I hate how he does this like he doesn't know what its like to struggle for your art."

Roger put a comforting hand on Mark's shoulder. "Don't worry Mark, we'll find a way to help her, okay."  
Mark just nodded before grabbing the bowl of noodles.


	7. Miss Independent

**I don't own Rent. Please leave reviews. Thanks

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Cass woke up sometime later. She sat up slowly and blinked her eyes. She looked around the loft. It was dark except for a small light under one of the doors. She saw her basket underneath a table nearby filled with the items she had asked Mark to get for her. She noticed a small piece of paper taped to the floor next to a small bell. She leaned over and picked up the paper.

_Cass,_

_Be careful of that ankle, it looks bad. I'll wrap it with an ace bandage in the morning for you. If you need anything just rang the bell and I'll help you._

_Mark_

Cass smiled at the note and the thoughtfulness of Mark. This one note, and the other things he had done for her, made her realized why Mark had done his documentary, Today 4 U: Proof Positive. He was just a kind and caring person. Cass secretly hoped that she wouldn't have to stay long. As much as the others and Mark intrigued her, she didn't want to be in the way of anything or be a bother. Cass's stomach growled and she realized she hadn't eaten since she was at the Life Café. She looked around for a clock, but seeing none she decided that she would just hobble to the cupboard and hopes that she didn't make too much noise and found something to grab quickly.

Cass swung her legs slowly over the couch so she could prepare to stand. She stood slowly up on her left leg. She was carefully to leave her right foot off the ground, but close to it, just incase she stumbled. She then began to hop across the loft. She came close to falling a few times, but was able to catch herself. Unknown to her, Mark had gotten up to check to see how she was doing, was standing in the door frame of his room watching her. He was amazed at how well she was hopping. She was almost to the safety of the kitchen counter when she almost fell back. Mark seeing this quickly ran, and caught her before she hit the ground. She breathed a sigh of relief when he caught her.  
"Thank you" She whispered as Mark laid her slowly to the floor.  
"It's ok. Why didn't you ring the bell I left you? I would have come."  
She turned her head away from him and let her tears roll down her cheek to the floor. She began to sob softly, so he just rubbed her back gently for a few minutes. "You'll be fine. Here let's get you back on the couch. With this he gently places an arm behind her knees and the other arm behind her back, and places her back on the couch. "So what do you want to eat?" He asked while going to get the ace bandage for her ankle. She just shook her head, and buried herself deeper into the sofa as much as possible. He comes back and gently wraps her ankle up. He proceeds to rub her back. "I know you're hungry. Come on let me fix you something." He says with a smile. Mark gets up, but when he looks up he sees Roger standing in the door frame of his room with a pair of crutches in his hand. Mark gives him a look as he walks towards his friend. "What's this?"  
Roger hands him the crutches. "Crutches, I have from a while ago. I never got rid of them. She seems to be hurting and this may help her when you aren't around." Mark put a hand on Roger's shoulder "Thanks" he said with a smile.


	8. Chicken Soup

**I don't own Rent. Please let me know what you think. Sorry its been a while since I updated been super busy.**

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Mark walked back to the couch, where Cass was staring straight ahead with tear-stained eyes. He sets the crutches on the floor and sits on the floor near her head. With one hand he gently pushes back some of her hair strands. "You alright?" He asks while rubbing her back slowly. She shakes her head no and tries to wrap herself tighter in the thin blanket Roger had laid on her earlier. "Are you cold?" She shook her head yes and her body seemed to answer with a slight shiver. Mark in response to this got up and walked to his room. He grabbed his only blanket, and tucked her into it as best as possible. It was dark green and navy blue. His mom had sent it to him his first year in New York. He started to ask her if she wanted something to eat, but she had disappeared underneath the blankets, and was just a shivering lump. He knew she must have been hungry for she hadn't eaten in a while so he went in to the kitchen and began to make her something. He had pulled out a pot when Roger came into the kitchen.

"I got it. You should go help her. She needs you." Mark nodded and walked back to the couch. There was a spot big enough so Mark could sit on the couch. So he sat there and rubbed Cass' back gently. A few minutes later Roger came over with a mug of chicken soup. He handed it to Mark who gently shook Cass. "Hey Roger made you some soup." A few minutes later Cass' head popped out of the blankets and Mark helped her sit up by sitting behind her and providing a sort of post for her to lean against while she ate the soup.


	9. HELP

Roger decided to use this time to check Cass' ankle. It didn't look good at all. It was 3x larger than normal and was black and blue. "Mark"

Mark looked at Roger, his blue eyes filled with curiosity of the sound of his friend's voice, "Yea?"

"You might want to look at this."

"Um ok. Can you get Mimi to hold her up then? "

"Yea no problem give me a second." With that Roger went off to his room. Mark could hear the two lovers whispering back and forth while he sat on the couch gently stroking Cass' hair while she ate the soup. Finally Mimi and Roger come out, and Mimi introduces herself to Cass. With this Roger holds Cass up while Mimi and Mark switch places. Once everyone was in place Mark walked to the other end of the couch where Roger was standing looking at her ankle. "You're right it doesn't look good. We need to get her to an ER."

"I agree with you but we can't afford a taxi and it's a good distance away."

"There is one a few blocks away. We can take turns carrying her and Collins can help."

"Ok. I'll get Collins." With this Roger went to Collin's room to explain everything to the philosopher while Mark comforted Cass and told her it would be alright. As soon as Roger had finished Collins jumped out of his bed threw some shoes on and went over to the couch.  
"We got to get her there before it gets worse." He then grabbed his coat, the same one Angel had got for him, off the hook and had Mimi put it on Cass. Without a question Mark placed one arm under her legs trying to keep the ankle as stable as possible. Cass had problems wrapping her arms around Mark's neck as she was so cold and shivering, so Collins took the blankets from the couch, and his and Roger's room and gently took her arms and wrapped them around Mark's neck while wrapping her tightly in the blankets.

"Alright let's go." Mark said as he held on tightly to Cass.


	10. A Quiet Moment

The 3 bohemians with Cass in Mark's arms made their way down the stairs into the cold New York night air. Cass began to shiver more violently causing Mark to have problems holding her, so Collins gently took Cass from Mark making sure to keep the blankets wrapped around her tiny body, and the ankle as stable as possible. Mark and Roger took off their jackets and laid them on top of Cass. Mimi started to do the same but Roger stopped her. Mimi gave him a scowl. "I want to help" She said with a slight pout.  
"Yes, but we don't need you to get sick." Roger said smiling sweetly to her. He then kissed the top of her forehead as she slid her coat back on.

They then proceeded to make it to the nearest hospital. Mark ran up to the desk while Collins walked in behind him with Cass in his arms. Mimi and Roger went and took a seat in the waiting area while Mark got the paperwork. Collins sat down gently with Cass making sure not to jolt her ankle too much. Collins tried to get Cass to stay awake while Mark wrote the answers to the paperwork. When they had finished the paperwork, Mark took it back up to the nurse that was at the desk. "Alright, I'll get this in and we will call her back shortly." The nurse said as she took the paperwork from Mark.

Mark sat back down next to Collins and Cass. A few minutes later a nurse stood at the entrance to a hallway. "Cassandra Rine" With that Collins and Mark stood up and walked with Cass in Collins arms to the nurse. The nurse had a wheelchair waiting for Cass, but when Collins tried to set Cass in the wheelchair she vigorously shook her head and clutched tighter to Collins, burying her head into his chest. The nurse got a doctor who was a taller and stronger than she to gently take Cass from Collins. The doctor slid his arm under Cass's legs keeping the hurt ankle as stiff as possible. "One of you may come with her if you like." The nurse told them. "Collins and Mark look at each other before Collins tells Mark to go. "She knows you better. "Mark gently nods "Alright, I'll come get you guys when they say I can. " He says as he begins to follow the nurse, doctor and Cass down the hall.

Mark sat in a chair in the room they took Cass to and watched as they warmed up the bed and took the extra jackets and blankets off of her and slid her beneath the warmed up blankets of the hospital bed.

"We'll be back in a few minutes to get an x-ray of her ankle." They told Mark before leaving the room.

"Mark" A small whisper came from the bed. Mark got up and went over to the bed. "You okay?"

Cass nodded slowly as a small tear fell down her cheek. Mark gently wiped away her tear away. "You sure that you are okay?"

Cass nodded again and then spoke her voice a whisper. "I'm sorry."  
"For what?" Mark said as he brushed some of her hair from her face.

"Causing you and your friends all this trouble. " Cass said as she turned her face away from Mark tears falling.

"It's okay Cass. Believe me none of us mind. Not like we do anything anyway." Mark said with a chuckle.

He then brought the chair over to her bedside so he could be closer to her. "Plus to tell you the truth, you intrigue me Cass. Everything about you intrigues me. So I don't mind helping you cause then I get to know you better. " He said as he placed a small kiss on her forehead.


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